VR in Sports? Black Box VR wins ‘Best Startup’ Award at CES 2018

/NEWS

Virtual Reality (VR) is not just for gamers. It´s also a great thing for sportsmen. That´s what Black Box VR demonstrated, who won the ‘Best Startup’ award with its VR gym system and virtual e-sports at CES 2018. Learn more about the startup and how it wants to revolutionize sports with technology.

The vision of Black Box VR

Black Box VR was founded in 2016 by Preston Lewis and Ryan DeLuca, two veterans of the health and fitness industry. They have massive experience with fitness business and successfully grew Bodybuilding.com with its fitness apps and tools to $500M in revenue. However, Preston and Ryan think that the sports industry requires further change and see the future of it in technology. They want to draw on the immersive power of VR and combine it with resistance training, high intensity cardio and addictive game principles. They consider this as the winning combination to increase fun and consistency in doing workouts. That is how they came up with the idea of Black Box VR.

From eSports to vSports

And it seems to be a promising approach to disrupt fitness: In January 2018 the company was honored with the ‘Best Startup’ award at the International Consumer Electronics Show CES in Las Vegas.

Your Expert

At the Sands Expo Hall, Black Box VR presented its system to the public for the first time. They were the very first who developed a fully automated cable resistance machine that integrates virtual reality hardware and original virtual eSport software powered by HTC Vive. Combining an intense and custom workout with the immersion to participate in a challenging and gamified fitness competition redefines eSports to physicial active vSports.

A promising future?

The pioneer was also nominated in various categories such as Best Digital Health and Fitness Product, Best Sports Tech, and People’s Choice. The award in ‘Best startup’ was presented by Engadget, the Official Awards Partner. And Engadget’s Senior Reporter Jess Conditt is excited about Black Box VR´s futures plans: “Black Box VR is building the gym of the future. Using the HTC Vive, motion-tracking controllers and specially designed workout equipment, Black Box turns exercise into a video game. The plan is to set up a boutique gym in San Francisco this year, where members can strap into a game, work out and attempt to land on the local leader-boards. This is just the beginning of the VR fitness market.” Ryan DeLuca, CEO and Co-Founder of Black Box VR regards this award as key to drive the VR fitness industry: “The worlds of fitness and immersive VR are finally coming together to help people reach their goals. This award helps us bring awareness to this revolutionary technology.”

STATEMENT

Gaming and sports seem to be an exciting match. We look forward to all future developments in virtual reality fitness!